Lack of Direction & Unsustainable Workloads
Pros
Fantastic office location – The office is based in a great space, surrounded by nature. It’s one of the few things that made coming into work a bit more bearable. Brilliant colleagues – The people I worked with were hands down the best part of the job. Talented, collaborative, and always willing to help out, even under pressure. You’ll find lifelong friendships here, just not lasting careers. Steep learning curve – You’ll be thrown in the deep end quickly, which, while stressful, does mean you pick up a lot of skills fast. I left with solid experience that’s proved useful elsewhere, particularly in learning what not to tolerate in a workplace.
Cons
You're never directly told to work late, but it's made clear that not doing so will reflect badly on you. Evenings finishing at 10 pm weren’t always uncommon for periods of time. There also seems to be no long-term strategy. Priorities change with little warning, which makes it very hard to build structure or deliver quality work. Everything feels reactive, not planned. The company advertises annual salary reviews, however this wasn't the case for me. I had one in my years at Venn, and only because I made it clear I would not wait any longer to have that discussion. Something that can make the role challenging, the MD regularly promises clients a lot, leaving internal teams to scramble to deliver. There’s often no consultation. I also had around 5 different managers for one reason or another. All were capable, but few were given the right training, mentoring, or guidance. At times, mistakes are met with finger-pointing rather than support. People are worried about being blamed, usually by the MD. In my experience there, the MD always reiterated that he wanted people who speak up and challenge the norm, however not every objection is heard, meaning you can be made to feel a bit shut down and “not on board.” During my years at Venn there were two rounds of volutatry and involuntary redundancies. Those affected were excluded from meetings, and treated like they'd already left. Completely disrespectful and damaging to morale. When I joined, we had close to 45 people. By the time I left, there were 14. Overall, I would stay clear of Venn in its current state, such a shame as it could have been something really special!
